why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

[Quencho092]

it may sound stupid, but im curious about why pauls have that split in the wood in the middle of the top. Is that because it is a 2 piece body, or a 2 piece maple top? I noticed because the flame patterns never seem to line up at the center of the body.

[SheDoesntDoIt4Me]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

I think its do to "bookmatching" which is a woodworking term. If you look close youll see the 2 sides are a mirror image of each other. They take a peice of wood and cut 2 "slices" and lay them next to each other to make a symetrical pattern...why? I guess cuz it looks cool?????

[dd12939]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

To get both sides of the top to mirror each other, they take the piece of flame maple, and cut it in to two pieces... it's called 'bookmatching'. Some guitars do have one piece (in my experience, usually quilt) tops.

[AcidBurn]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

The tops you are describing are called "bookmatched." They take one piece of wood and then cut it in half lengthwise and lay it down on the body like you would open a book,hence the name.

Here's some pictures to help with my bad description:

http://www.warmoth.com/guitar/options/options_laminate_top.cfm

[MikeRocker]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

It think it also has to do with finding a piece of maple with a nice quilt or flame pattern - it's easier (and cheaper) to find a piece half the width of a guitar and bookmatch it than to find one as wide as a Les Paul.

[Quencho092]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

would a les paul with fewer glued on parts sound better or more solid than a 2 piece book matched maple top les paul? Like the ebony ones for example, they dont need bookmatching, just a maple top glued to the mahogany body and a set neck.

[MikeRocker]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that most Les Pauls have a two-piece top. You probably just can't see it on some because of a solid-colored finish. American Gibson guitars (even most Epiphones) are very well made, and there probably wouldn't be a big sonic difference in a one-piece body (just a big $$$$ difference). The prized and very expensive Les Pauls from the 50's that collectors shell out 5 figures for are all bookmatched.

[Tweed]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

Customs are all mahogany, so they don't have maple tops. Goldtops are 2-piece maple tops, sometimes 3 pieces. During the Norlin years, it wasn't too uncommon to see 3-piece maple tops on bursts. Then there were those Spotlight Specials. Ugly, but anyway...

I think one reason behind 2-piece maple tops lies in the scarcity of larger, uniformly-figured maple slabs. When they are available, they are usually veneered and used to make several guitars, like this ES335:



It makes more sense $$-wise to veneer a larger piece and get several hollow/semi-hollow guitars from it than to cut 1/2" slabs to build a much smaller number of LPs. I've seen very few 1-piece maple top LPs. One of Gibson's big dealers was selling one a few months ago, a beautiful Historic reissue. Big price tag.

[ledzepp29]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

only a few custom historic les paul customs are all mahogany but the regular white, black, wine red ones are mahogany back and bookmatched maple top. The reason for the bookmatching is because of the difficulty of finding a good looking top the size of a paul like they said. But mahogany backs are a different story. Almost all new les paul (non custom shop) are multiple piece back because it is cheaper to use different woods left over and glue them together(sounds kinda crude) but its not that big of a deal. I did see a picture of a guy working on an unfinished les paul that had a 6+ piece back that would get finished in solid color. That might contradict that signiture les paul sustain a bit. And just to show gibsons inconsistency my les paul classic has a 1 piece mahogany back.

[Tweed]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

only a few custom historic les paul customs are all mahogany but the regular white, black, wine red ones are mahogany back and bookmatched maple top.

I was referring to the historic customs. They're all mahogany, no maple. The tops are cut separately and glued on, which I don't understand from a labor standpoint. Originals weren't made that way. And you're right about maple tops on the Gibson USA Customs. Do they still make them? It doesn't make sense that they'd use bookmatched figured tops on a guitar that they were going to paint over tho. I'd bet that if you stripped the paint, you'd see some lower-grade (cosmetically speaking) maple, and probably some off-center seams and 3-piece tops. You never know tho, I've seen historic goldtops with flame showing underneath the paint and in the control cavity. One guy took the plunge and stripped his, expecting some ugly mineral-stained maple with ugly mismatched flame, and it actually looked decent. He refinned the top and it looked good. It was probably a mistake, or was too heavy a guitar to make it a R8 or R9, so they shot it with gold. Who knows what Gibson does? They make some killer-sounding guitars, but you have search them out to find the magical ones.

[jmh151]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

I have a 1986 Les Paul Custom that was originally Alpine White. I got it used, and it was marked a factory second (part of the white finish was turning pink). Once when I was re-wiring the guitar, I sanded some of the finish away from where the pots mount and I found flame maple. Then I sanded a little under the pickguard and found flame maple. Next I sanded the whole top, to find an extreme bookmatched 11 top flame maple top, only blemished by a knot under the bridge (which looks cool, but is an imperfection). I sanded the whole guitar- solid 1 piece mahogany back, 1 piece mahogany neck, and refinished it in antique amber.

It looks like the gutar was meant to be a 1968 reissue, but the knot ruined it. It also doesn't have a deep set neck tenon like the historis ones do

[Davey]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

veneered and used to make several guitars, like this ES335:

sorry to thread hijack, but that is one AWESOME! 335. beautiful

[Gearjoneser]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

It actually amazes me that there's enough flamed and quilted maple in the world to supply all the guitar companies. If you've ever tried to find good hardwood, you'll see that it's harder to find in big pieces. They almost always have to bookmatch it.
If you try and find it in big pieces, there's often some imperfection that wouldn't be desireable on a guitar's top.

[Jeff_H]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

Bookmatched maple or other such nice tops are best compared to a beautiful woman's legs. You have to split them right down the middle to get the best results.

[Norman_T]

Re: why do les pauls have a split in the middle of the flame or quilt?

Bookmatched maple or other such nice tops are best compared to a beautiful woman's legs. You have to split them right down the middle to get the best results.

LOL!!